Stock-picking edge: Alec Cutler, Orbis director and portfolio manager (Photograph supplied)Orbis’s local investment team has won the prestigious fund manager of the year award from UK financial publication Investment Week for the fourth year in a row. The firm won the award for the managed 40 to 85 per cent shares category with the Orbis Global Balanced Fund. According to the firm, investment performance was again a key factor behind the award. Alec Cutler, Orbis director and portfolio manager, said over the 12 months to January 31, the fund meaningfully outpaced its peer group. The portfolio’s defence-related holdings were also among the standout winners, benefiting from heightened geopolitical instability, increased global defence spending and European government commitments to future defence budgets.